“The SE corner of 5th and P St NW. They haven’t shoveled it at ALL during any of the storms. This is across the street from an elementary school. I saw two kids fall yesterday. Requests to DPW for assistance in snow/ice removal informed me they can leave a note in a mailbox but will not take action or fine.”

“Historic Ledroit Park- NEED SPACE, THEN HERE IT IS: Spacious loft-style apartment is just waiting for you to call it home. This space is located in a 4 unit building with a fenced back yard perfect for summer entertaining. Nice kitchen features a dishwasher ! Fabulous potential in this studio apartment. Huge loft style space with about 800 sq ft ! Tall ceilings. Open floor plan. All hardwood floors. Washer dryer. Central AC. Come see this lovely space. Located just 5 blocks from SHAW METRO in lovely historic Ledroit Park.”

“I’ve seen quite a few posts on Popville about little or no notice when posting emergency parking signs, but not much about enforcement. I recently moved between apartments within the district and found the enforcement to be essentially non-existent.

New rules have been put in place to help avoid ticketing and towing when the signs are not posted at least 72 hours. Now the signs must be posted in advance and verified by DDOT in order for vehicles parked in the reserved spaces to be ticketed and towed. Well, at least in theory…

During my recent move, I had my signs up on a Sunday in advance of a Friday morning move. The exact start time was 5 PM on a Thursday as I anticipated vehicles would be parked in the spaces regardless of hanging the signs for the moving truck. I was right.

At 10 PM the evening before my move, I called to request the four cars to be ticketed and towed. The next morning, I got up at 6 AM. No tickets. No towing. I called to follow-up on the status of my request and was informed that there is a bizarre Cinderella rule and my request whether addressed or not was closed at midnight and that I would need to file a new one.

Subsequent to filing a new request, I was informed that the city workers who can actually write tickets would not be clocking-in for work until 7 AM and that I should then allow 2 hours for them to arrive. In addition, the police are not able to write tickets now because they do not have access to know whether the signs were verified as hung at least 72 hours in advance.

In short, there is absolutely no way to enforce these signs for an early morning move and I essentially paid $55 in order to avoid a larger ticket for having a moving truck blocking the street. Not being able to park in the designated spaces also complicates the moving process and can increase the amount of time professional movers are on the clock (i.e., I pay more). I’m wondering if anyone else has a similar experience, especially with getting a refund. I’ve contacted DPW, Office of the Mayor, and two city council members with little progress.”

and on the other hand:

“I live on a block that manages to have a lot of resident turnover – brownstones with group houses and apt buildings. It follows that there are frequent moving trucks and no parking signs. A few between trees is to be expected and understood. Moving sucks and you don’t want to have to lift or move furniture and items any farther from your house than need be. But recently I have noticed people stretching out their private moving zones longer than the Middle East peace process. Just tonight someone thought it within their right to rope off almost 90 feet of public parking space to enable their move. That’s just shy of seven average car lengths, a full three more than I believe DDOT allows. I took down one of the signs in order to call the offending party, but I am curious if PoP folks have grumbled about this recently. My car has been towed several times when people throw the signs up a day or two, or even the night before they move, when they are supposed to have them up, what five days in advance? Just strikes me that this issue is ripe for debate. How many others are riled? Having a car in the city is a luxury, but the oversight over the moving sign industry is certainly lax, in my experience.”

“It smells like miso or chicken broth. And made a mess of cars.Any insight?”

Another reader writes via email:

“I took my dog for his morning walk and noticed a strong sewage odor on the street, Rock Creek Church Road NW (between Shepherd Street and 5th Street). Two other people on the street commented on the strong sewage odor. Then I noticed that all the cars parked on the street, including mine, were spattered with a gross brown liquid. The brown liquid looked thick like tree sap that will not easily wash off.

Could this be DC’s new road “treatment” for the sleet forecast for this afternoon? Do you know if it is safe? Upon closer inspection, the main road was definitely dark and wet looking and the side streets remained dry. Do you have any idea what this brown sewage smelling stuff is? Unfortunately, it tracks into folks homes on the bottom of shoes and pets feet.”

Ed. Note: on the 4D listserve a resident noted a “beet juice mixture is sometimes used as a de-icing agent for the roads”

You can see all forum topics and add your own here. If you are having trouble uploading your question please email me at princeofpetworth(at)gmail

When becoming a member of the PoPville flickr pool please make sure your settings allow me to download your photos. Join the PoPville flickr pool here and follow PoPville on twitter here on facebook here and you can now sign up for daily email summaries here.

I know there are massive problems with massive potholes in DC, but I have never seen anything like what happened to my street. The stretch of Belmont St. NW between 13th and 14th NW was paved a few months ago, with one giant exception: the 100 feet or so that intersects 14th St. NW was prepped and coated weith gravel then abandoned. During the past 2 months winter has wreaked havoc on that area, to the point now where it looks like it’s been bombed. I wrote to DDOT and received a standard “thanks for letting us know, we’ll pass your concern along” for email. (The reply took about a month.) Any other suggestions regarding how to get DDOT to act? Maybe they need to wait until spring to pave again? It’s just odd that they paved the entire block and left this one portion to be destroyed by the elements.”

“Our policy on #selfie sticks, TLDR version: Take those selfies but leave the stick in your bag”

Their full press release says:

“For the safety of our visitors and collections, the Smithsonian prohibits the use of tripods or monopods in our museums and gardens. Effective today, March 3, monopod selfie sticks are included in this policy.

This is a preventive measure to protect visitors and objects, especially during crowded conditions.

We encourage museum visitors to take selfies and share their experiences—and leave the selfie sticks in their bags.”

“Black History Month is an annual celebration where we honor and recognize the contributions that African Americans have made to history. Join Monumental Sports & Entertainment as we reflect on some great inspirations of Black History. Check out our month long celebration on www.nba.com/wizards/BHM-2015 #inspire #wizardscare #BHM #nbacares #DREAM #King #Leonsis”